The present invention relates to parking assisting apparatus that assist in a parking procedure by displaying an image of a view, as viewed in a direction in which a vehicle moves, on a display located in a passenger compartment.
A typical parking assisting apparatus, which is described in Japanese Patent No. 1610702 or Japanese Patent No. 2610146, includes a camera and a display. The camera acquires an image of a rear view from a vehicle, and the display shows the acquired image. When a parking procedure is started, the parking assisting apparatus assumes a path along which the vehicle is moved during the procedure in accordance with the steering angle of the steering wheel. The assumed path appears on the display, in addition to the image of the rear view from the vehicle. The parking procedure is thus continued with the aid of the image on the display. This makes it easy for the driver to complete the parking procedure.
For example, if the vehicle is parked in a space between a pair of vehicles that are parked along a road shoulder, the steering wheel of the vehicle is first rotated in one direction such that the vehicle is reversed while turning in the corresponding direction. Subsequently, the stearing wheel is rotated in the other direction such that the vehicle is reversed while turning in the corresponding direction. However, the aforementioned parking assisting apparatus does not inform the driver of an optimal timing at which the rotating direction of the steering wheel should be switched. Accordingly, the parking assisting apparatus does not sufficiently assist in the parking procedure in which the rotating direction of the steering wheel must be switched. As a result, the parking procedure is not sufficiently simplified for the driver.
Accordingly, it is an objective of the present invention to provide a parking assisting apparatus that informs a driver of an optimal timing at which the rotating direction of a steering wheel should be switched.
To achieve the foregoing and other objectives and in accordance with the purpose of the present invention, the invention provides a parking assisting apparatus that displays an image of a view acquired by a camera, as viewed in a direction in which a vehicle moves, on a display located in a passenger compartment, thus assisting in a parking procedure performed by a driver. The parking procedure includes a first step and a second step. In the first step, the vehicle is moved with a steering device rotated in one direction. In the second step, the vehicle is moved with the steering device rotated in a direction opposite to that of the first step. The parking assisting apparatus is characterized by a control means, which assumes a path along which the vehicle is moved during the parking procedure. The control means determines an initial steering angle of the steering device. The initial steering angle corresponds to the steering angle of the steering device when initiating the parking procedure. The control means assumes the path of the vehicle, based on the assumption that the first step is performed with the initial steering angle and the second step is performed with the steering angle maintained at a predetermined value after the steering device is rotated in the opposite direction. The control means instructs the display to indicate a steering information that informs the driver of a timing at which the steering device must be rotated in the opposite direction in accordance with the assumed path.